Tagged: graeme innes

RampUp and Disability Discrimination Commissioner decisions are disappointing and retrograde. #dismedia
The Federal Budget has left many wondering just what is going on in corridors of power in Canberra. Many words have been written and spoken since last Tuesday night’s Budget.

The conclusion – it’s a sea of broken promises. The political fallout will be extensive and prolonged. The Abbott Government can expect what it delivered the governments of Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd served back to it in spades.

The Coalition is, and will continue, to claim the decisions have been made for the greater good, and that big-picture, overarching commitments take precedent over specific individual promises. The PM said as much on the ABC’s Insiders:

“You might remember the mantra – it was stop the boats, repeal the carbon tax, build the roads of the 21st Century, and get the budget back under control,” he said.

“So people, I think, were on notice that we were going to do what was necessary to ensure that we were not being a burden on our children and grandchildren.”

However, the individual promises to fund health and education (Gonski); to leave pensions, the ABC and SBS and university fees alone; and not to deliver new taxes were made so clearly, so unequivocally, that to do anything less is now unconscionable. The number of people at March in May protests today and the cross-section of people at the rallies is indicative of opposition the government can expect to face from now until the next election.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) escaped the Budget razor gang. This is as welcome as it is politically savvy. Of all the commitments made to by the then Opposition before last year’s federal election, the commitment to deliver the NDIS in full and on time was among its most steadfast and universally welcomed.

However, the decisions to defund the ABC’s disability website RampUp and to axe the role of Disability Discrimination Commissioner are disappointing and retrograde steps for people with disability.

RampUp has provided an important space for people with disability to participate in mainstream media. Under the leadership of editor Stella Young, RampUp has instigated, encouraged, and participated in discussions and debate around issues and events important to people with disability, and the broader community.

Importantly, RampUp has represented people with disability progressively and outside the traditional media models of disability. RampUp has shown people with disability as part of the fabric of society, rather than objects of pity and charity, and/or heroes for simply doing what everyone else does.

I look forward to the day when the need for specific sites like RampUp does not exist, when people with disability and the issues they face are naturally included in mainstream media discussion. That day is yet to dawn. RampUp is an important voice for disability advocacy and, in the face of an unyielding government, the ABC and Mark Scott now have to re-assess priorities. While the ideal, yet sadly unlikely, scenario is the Abbott Government changes its mind and re-funds RampUp, the likelihood is Mr Scott and the ABC Board will decide the future of RampUp.

Likewise, the loss of Australia’s highest profile advocate for people with disability, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes is a major blow. While it is anticipated the position will be rolled into another Human Rights Commission portfolio (most likely Freedom Commissioner Tim Wilson’s position), the loss of a specific voice to fight for the rights of people with disability is a leap backwards. Mr Innes has a long list of achievements to his name since taking up the role in 2005, including the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the development of National Disability Strategy, and his successful campaign to deliver clear public announcements on NSW trains.

“The challenges for us to achieve equality and full inclusion are still out there. Report after report, the Shut Out report being just one example, show the disadvantage experienced in our society by Australians with disability. Our media, and many of our politicians, spend their time castigating those attempting to take positive action to address climate change, and vilifying the hundreds who – due to terrible persecution in their own countries – seek asylum in ours. But what do we hear about disability issues, and people with disability. We are represented as either heroes or victims, when we want to be seen as people enjoying equal and included lives in the broader community, and as agents of our own destiny.

For such an environment we need strong, committed and long-term advocacy. So, to use a well-known line from television, PWD, thank God you’re here.”

His words were correct and necessary three years ago, and nothing has changed to make them less relevant today.

I say this, ‘thank God’ for you Graeme Innes, and the work you have done.